LXG 2004 2: Lazarus
by Marcus S. Lazarus
Summary: [UnderworldModern LXG series XOver, written preEvolution & ignores that film] The League are contacted by the vampire Selene and the hybrid Michael Corvin, who seek their aid in tackling a new foe a mysterious hybrid known only as... Lazarus
1. Late Night Rendezvous

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the League _or _any of the characters of 'Underworld'; just the plot.

Feedback: Who doesn't want that?

LXG 2004 2: Lazarus

Sitting down at the table, Bond stared critically at the man facing him. He was a tall figure, dressed in an elegant velvet shirt and dark trousers, with long locks that gave him an almost Byron-esque appearance. He appeared to be in fairly good shape, although his skin seemed slightly paler than Bond was used to human skin being; it almost reminded him of Angel's…

He shook it off and raised a curious eyebrow at the man.

"Your preference?" he asked, casually; the man had just sat down at this table after Bond's last opponent had left, coinciding defeat before things got too out of hand.

"Blackjack?" the man asked cockily, indicating the cards.

Bond nodded. "Deal," he said to the dealer.

The cards were dealt, one up, one down. His opponent was showing the Queen of Diamonds, while Bond was displaying the Jack of Hearts, with the Ace of Spades up his sleeve.

"I'll stay with what I have and bet one thousand," Bond decided. It seemed a fairly safe guess, after all; he couldn't think of many hands that could top the one he was holding at present.

The other man nodded. "I'll see your thousand." He flipped over the seven of clubs.

Bond revealed his Ace of Spades, smiling slightly as he accepted his winnings.

The other man nodded. "Good call," he said, handing over the money with no obvious signs of annoyance at the loss, before looking back at the dealer. "Again."

The cards came out again; Bond this time holding the Nine of Diamonds and the Seven of Spades, while his opponent was displaying the King of Hearts.

Bond nodded thoughtfully; he'd just have to gamble.

"Hit me," he said to the dealer, he found himself facing the Five of Diamonds and smiled; as good a card as any.

"You're a confident man, Mr…" the man said, looking curiously at Bond.

"Bond," he replied. "James Bond."

"Well, Mr Bond, in lieu of your nerve, I'll raise you two thousand," the man replied, smiling as he shoved the necessary chips onto the table.

Bond laid the Nine down beside the others, and watched as his opponent laid down the Ten of Diamonds beside the others, a brief curse passing his lips as he passed the money over.

Bond smiled slightly as he looked at the table, before glancing up at the man and resuming his poker face. He noted, with some surprise, that his opponent's eyes actually looked angry, but then supposed that it was only to be expected; it looked like he'd managed to earn a fairly substantiale amount of money before Bond showed up. Nobody liked to have a streak like that broken so fast.

Bond smiled slightly as he stood up, pocketing his chips. "I've got an appointment; I should be off," he said, holding out a hand to his opponent. "Thanks for the brief game, Mr…?"

"Kraven," the man said, taking the offered hand and shaking it. "Kraven Ordgahz."

"You're Hungarian?" Bond asked, slightly surprised; the man's accent didn't _sound _all that foreign.

"My father was," Kraven replied. "I haven't actually been there for several years myself."

"Ah," Bond said, as he turned away from the table and began to walk out of the casino.

He didn't know why, but there was something about Kraven that made Bond instinctively.

Maybe it was because his skin was so cold…

* * *

"Really?" Ginny asked, looking up at Harry in surprise from where she was sitting opposite him. "Dorian Gray? _The _Dorian Gray? You _fought _him?" 

"Me and the League," Harry said, trying to sound a bit dismissive of the whole thing; he was beginning to wish he hadn't brought the topic up now. But Ginny had asked him what had happened during his time with the League, and as she'd sat there, her shoulder-length red hair hanging down beside her face, looking innocently at him…

He'd have stabbed himself if she'd asked him to, looking as beautiful as that.

He sighed. "But… it cost one of us his life."

"Oh," Ginny said, looking sadly at him as he sat there, picking away slightly at the food in front of him. "I'm… sorry I brought it up."

"Hey, don't worry about it," Harry said, smiling up at her. "You couldn't have known; you had every right to be curious. I-"

There was a loud knock at the door.

Blinking in surprise, Harry looked over at Ginny. "Invite anyone over?" he asked her.

"No," Ginny said, looking just as surprised as he was. "I did have Ron and Hermione over a few days ago, but they said they were going away for a couple of weeks; it can't be them."

"Then… who?" Harry said, partly to Ginny and partly to himself.

He looked over at his girlfriend. "Get your wand," he said to her, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out his own. "I'll see who it is; you stay back in case they attack."

"Right," Ginny said, pulling out her own wand and walking off to stand behind a door, while Harry headed off into the hall, his wand concealed behind his back.

He was prepared to admit that he might be making a mountain out of a molehill, but, well, ten o'clock at night was hardly a normal time for social calls, and after his recent adventure with the League…

Well, it wouldn't be too far-fetched to assume that someone was after him for revenge.

He opened the door, his wand behind his back, ready at a moment's notice to be brought out…

And stared in surprise at the people in front of him.

There were two of them; a man and a woman. The man was tall and athletic, wearing black slacks, a long black leather coat and a white shirt, the first few buttons undone to reveal a muscular chest. His face was ruggedly handsome, with medium-length dark blond locks, and unusually dark eyes. The woman was a similar height, dressed in skin-tight black leather and a coat identical to the man's, with shoulder-length dark hair and smooth, pale skin that vaguely reminded Harry of Angel.

The woman looked curiously at Harry. "Mr Harry Potter?" she said to him.

"Um… yeah, that's me," Harry said, already doubting they were here to kill him; if they'd wanted that, wouldn't they have tried something already?

"The wizard in the latest incarnation of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen?" the man put in, looking at Harry in an inquiring manner.

Harry blinked in surprise.

They knew about that…

… And they _didn't _want to kill him?

"Who are you?" he said, turning to the woman; she struck him somehow as being the more experience of the two of them.

"My name is Selene," she said. "This is Michael Corvin. We have a serious problem to attend to, and we need the assistance of the League if we are to succeed."

She stared Harry in the eyes. "And if we fail, at least one centuries-old species shall be destroyed for good."


	2. History of War

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the League _or _any of the characters of 'Underworld'; just the plot.

Feedback: Who doesn't want that?

**Sean Malloy-1:** Sorry about the delay; stuff kept coming up

**mimifoxlove: **Thanks for that

LXG 2004 2: Lazarus

Harry blinked in surprise at that last statement- a whole _species _was on the line!

Then he looked back at Selene and Michael once again.

Could he trust them?

He shook his head, angry at himself.

How could he even _think _something like that?

He was a member of the League now; he couldn't turn away people who needed his kind of help, no matter what he thought might happen.

"Come in," he said, standing aside. He looked back at where Ginny had hidden. "It's OK, Gin; I think they're all right."

"Well, that's a relief," Ginny said, as she stepped out from behind the corner, slid her wand into her pocket, and walked casually towards Michael, holding out her hand. "I'm Ginny Weasley, Harry's girlfriend; you are?"

"Michael-" Michael began, but Ginny stopped him.

"I already heard that; I was more asking for a _what_, not a _who_, if you don't mind me asking," she explained. "I mean, since you mentioned something about a species being at stake, would I be right in guessing you're not exactly human?"

Selene seemed about to protest, but sighed and nodded.

"Your assumption is correct, Miss Weasley," she replied, as Harry shut the door and walked over to stand beside his girlfriend. "We aren't exactly… fully human."

"So, what _are _you then?" Harry asked.

"Simply put?" Michael asked, smiling up at Harry. "She's a vampire; I'm a vampire/werewolf hybrid."

Harry and Ginny looked over at each other in confusion and surprise, and then Harry turned back to look at Michael.

"Um… two small points?" he said, raising a finger objectively. "Firstly what kind of vampire are you?"

"What's normally called the 'Warrior' class," Selene explained. "We aren't vulnerable to crosses or holy water, have reflections, and don't go feeding on humans freely like the kind of vampire your friend Angel used to be."

"Ah," Ginny said, nodding briefly; she vaguely remembered Harry mentioning a part-vampire called Angel…

Then she glanced over at Michael. "By the way, how can you be a vampire/werewolf hybrid? I always thought the two immortal breeds could never mix?"

"Not normally, anyway," Michael replied, as he stretched slightly and briefly flexed his fingers. "However, I'm a bit of a special case; I'm a direct descendant of Alexander Corvinus, the original immortal."

"Huh?" Harry asked, looking at Michael. "What does that have to do with anything?"

"It's not exactly a short story," Selene said.

"Well, I assume we have a bit of time," Harry said, indicating the sitting room. "Shall we get comfortable and you can tell us all about it?"

* * *

In reply, Michael walked into the room and crashed onto the large couch opposite the fire. Selene sat down beside him and Harry and Ginny took their places in the two armchairs around the couch. Neither of them objected to their guests' taking the sofa; they looked like they could use a good rest.

Selene spoke first. "I only learned this myself a few months ago, but I am one of only three people who know this story, to our knowledge; Michael is one of the others, another has gone missing, and the third…"

She sighed, and Michael spoke up.

"He's pretty much the reason we're here," he explained. He looked over at Selene. "Do you want to continue, or shall I?"

"No; let me," the beautiful vampiress said, before looking back up at Harry and Ginny. "Alexander Corvinus was a Hungarian warlord in the fifth century, who came to power just as a plague ravaged his village. He alone survived, because, somehow, by means nobody's ever fully understood, his body was able to change the disease... mould it to his benefit. He became the first true immortal, and, years later, he fathered at least three children, two of whom inherited the same trait."

"And, let me guess, they became the first vampire and werewolf?" Ginny asked.

"Correct," Selene said. "They are now known in legend as the sons of the Corvinus clan; one bitten by bat, one by wolf, and one to walk the lonely road of mortality as a human. His line is known to continue in the vampire side, although the fate of the werewolf descendant is unknown, but his human descendant…"

She smiled slightly, and placed an almost affectionate hand on Michael's shoulder. "He's sitting right here."

Harry blinked in surprise.

"Ah," he said, before looking back at Michael. "So, let me guess… since you're his descendant, you can become both vampire _and _werewolf without any actual harm being done to you?"

Michael nodded. "Pretty much, yeah," he said, stretching slightly as he tried to make himself a bit more comfortable.

"So, what is the second point you wanted to make?" Selene asked, looking over at Ginny.

"Well, the obvious question really; what are you doing here?" Ginny asked, looking at the beautiful vampiress curiously. "I mean, when a vampire and a half-vampire/half-werewolf drop in on our world's most renowned wizard, _and _request the assistance of the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, it's hardly likely to be a social call, is it?"

Michael nodded. "Correct, Miss Weasley," he said, the formal tone sounding odd in his mouth; evidently he wasn't used to referring to people by their titles. "The problem can be traced back to over eight hundred years ago, when lycans- werewolves," he said, noting Harry and Ginny's confused expression, "were the servants of vampires, acting as their guardians in the daytime. One lycan, Lucian, fell in love with a vampire princess called Sonja, and the two of them married, even conceiving a child."

Harry blinked in surprise. "I thought vampires were sterile," he said, looking over at Selene. "I mean, no offence, but aren't you guys technically, um…"

"Dead?" Selene asked, smiling slightly at Harry's discomfort. "In most cases, yes, but not for my species; we remain mostly alive, but we get all the more traditional aspects of vampirism. Enhanced strength, a sensitivity to sunlight, a need for blood…"

She shrugged. "But, otherwise, we're perfectly human."

"I see…" Harry said, before turning back to Michael. "So, what happened to them?"

"Sonja's father, Viktor, found out about them," Michael continued. "He regarded the child as an abomination, so, in order to kill it, he had Sonja chained up and trapped in a pit where she was exposed to the sunlight. His own daughter, burned alive…"

Michael swallowed as he looked back up at Harry and Ginny, pain almost evident in his eyes. "All because she fell in love."

"Yikes…" Ginny said, staring at Michael in horror. "What happened then?"

"Lucian escaped," Michael continued. "He spent the next several hundred years trying to find a way to gain enough power to kill Viktor, whose age as a vampire gave him incredible physical strength. He eventually discovered the rumours of Corvinus's mortal descendant, and became determined to find the heir, believing that he could use the heir's blood to turn himself into a hybrid. About two years ago, he found the heir."

"You?" Harry asked.

Michael nodded.

"So what happened?" Harry asked.

Selene took up the story now. "With the aid of a vampire traitor called Kraven, Lucian killed Amelia, another ruling vampire, and acquired a sample of my blood. However, I discovered the truth about the plot…"

Ginny interrupted at this point. "That reminds me; where do you fit into this?" she asked, looking inquiringly at Selene.

Selene looked back at Ginny, and, after a few second's hesitation, replied.

"I was, essentially, Viktor's adopted daughter," she explained. "He had never been able to obey our rules about not hunting humans, and attacked my family over a century ago, but when he saw me, he was reminded so strongly of Sonja that he couldn't kill me."

She swallowed. "He… he claimed that lycans had killed my family, rather than him, and turned me so that I would have the strength to 'avenge' them."

She looked up at Harry, a slight tear on her cheek. "I spent over a hundred years hunting them for something they didn't even do, and didn't even know it…"

"Um… you didn't know any better?" Harry said, uncertain what else to say.

Selene, rather than continuing to talk, just turned away, a tear in her eyes, and Michael took up the story once again.

"Selene and I met when she realised a lycan she'd tackled earlier had been following me," he explained, looking around at the two wizards. "We managed to escape another attack, but Lucian had bitten me already, infecting me with the lycan strain. Selene managed to save me from being dissected by the lycans, but then…"

Michael swallowed. "I was shot with silver bullets."

"Ouch," Harry said, sympathetically; he'd never actually seen a werewolf get exposed to silver before, but, from what he understood, the effect was similar to shooting a human with bullets composed of pure cyanide. "So, was that when you became a hybrid?"

"Yes," Michael said, looking back at Selene, who was staring vacantly at the wall. "Selene, on the encouragement of a dying Lucian, bit me, turning me into a hybrid and giving me the means to survive the silver. The two of us then tackled and killed Viktor, and…"

He sighed. "Ever since, for the past two years, Selene and I have been on the run from both sides; the war seems to be continuing even after almost all the people who know the truth have been killed…"

He looked back up at Harry and Ginny. "That's why we're here," he said. "We need the League's help to end this war."

Harry and Ginny looked over at each other for a few seconds, then Harry sighed.

"I'm sorry about this, Ginny," he said to his girlfriend. "But, well-"

Before he could finish, the front window crashed open, and two large, dog-like creatures were standing in the middle of the living room.


	3. Lycans versus Wizards

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the League _or _any of the characters of 'Underworld'; just the plot.

Feedback: Who doesn't want that?

**mimifoxlove:** Sorry, but I have _no _idea what you just said there…

**Sean Malloy-1: **Sorry it took so long

**Sinthetik Angel:** Thanks; here's the next round

LXG 2004 2: Lazarus

Instantly, the two men and two women in the room leapt to their feet, Harry and Ginny drawing their wands while Selene pulled out two guns and pointed them at the two wolves, who were eagerly scanning their surroundings as though trying to decide who to attack first.

"Lycans?" Harry asked Michael, who was already flexing his fingers in preparation for combat.

"Yeah," Michael growled, as he stared at his new foes. "Just don't let them bite you, and you'll be fine."

"Anything silver will hurt them, but you'd need to hit them directly in a vital organ such as the heart or brain to kill them for good," Selene said, looking over at the wizards. "But as Michael said, if they bite you you're in trouble; either you'll mutate into them, or you'll die."

* * *

"Right," Ginny said, as she reached behind her towards the nearby table, with a crockery set that her mother had given her and Harry as a housewarming present. It wasn't much of a weapon, she had to admit, but at least the handles for must of the cups were silver; if she timed it correctly, she might just be able to hit one of the werewolves with the cup, shattering the china but leaving the silver handle in a position where it would injure the werewolf in question.

"All right then, you ugly lump of fur," she said, trying to sound braver than she felt as she faced the slobbering wolf, "I know it's cliché, but we can do this the easy way or the hard way; your call."

The lycan looked over at her, smiled slightly…

And lunged.

Instinctively, Ginny struck out with the cup, watching it shatter as it struck the lycan's nose, and smiled in relief as the lycan began to scream, steam rising from its snout where the silver handle had struck it.

Just as it began to turn to face her, a loud yelp came from off to one side as Michael, now fully transformed into something Ginny couldn't quite see apart from the fact that it was blue-ish and fast, tackled the other lycan, throwing it through the hole in the wall that it had just entered by.

The lycan instinctively glanced in the direction of the cry, and Ginny seized her chance; she pulled out her wand, pointed it at the lycan, and cried out, "_Impedimentia_!", vaguely hearing Harry yell "_Stupefy_!" and there was the loud bang of gunfire from where Selene was standing. The werewolf jerked in three different directions practically simultaneously as the charms hit it, although only Selene's strike seemed to have any effect; the bullets struck the lycan in the side, and steam began to issue from the small wounds as the injured lycan howled.

Selene moved too fast for either of the others to see; suddenly, Harry and Ginny each found themselves staring at a 9mm Beretta that had landed on the floor in front of them, while Selene's long leather duster was the only thing that actually gave them a clear idea of her position as she struck out and kicked at the lycan, using her greater speed to her advantage.

* * *

"What are you waiting for; _shoot it_!" Selene yelled out at Ginny as she launched a powerful kick at her opponent's jaw. "I can't keep this up forever!"

"Oh… uh… right," Ginny said, picking up the gun and holding it out in front of her; she wasn't _entirely _clear on aiming these things, but, if she remembered some of the few novels she'd managed to read since leaving Hogwarts, the recoil of the bullet might be a problem…

"SHOOT IT ALREADY!" Selene yelled, as there was the sudden sound of something tearing.

Ginny tensed, aimed at an area that she hoped and prayed would stay the lycan, and fired.

There was a loud, feral roar of agony, and Ginny was relieved to see that it had come from the lycan; they didn't need an injured Selene on top of everything else. She smiled, but the smile faded as the lycan spun around to face her, its teeth bared in an angry snarl…

At least, before another silver bullet struck it in the neck, fired from the gun that Harry had picked up off the floor. The lycan yelped once, sounding for all the world like a startled dog rather than a monstrous killing machine, and collapsed to the ground.

Selene turned around to smile at them, and Harry and Ginny were briefly surprised at the sight she now presented; her eyes, originally brown, were now a brilliant pale electric-blue, and her vampire fangs were far more pronounced than they had been originally.

Selene smiled slightly at their reactions. "Don't worry; I won't bite," she said reassuringly. Then she turned around and leapt out of the hole in the wall, followed closely by Harry and Ginny…

Who could only stare at the sight in front of them, as a blue-skinned male human slugged it out with a large werewolf the size and shape of the Rock- at least, it appeared so to the two of them; they weren't all that keen on getting close enough to find out.

"Um… shouldn't we help him?" Harry asked, looking over at Selene inquiringly.

Selene shook her head. "Michael's stronger than you'd think; he'll be fine," she said casually.

Or so it would have seemed to anyone else. However, Harry and Ginny had practically grown up watching Ron and Hermione's relationship develop; they knew when a woman was hiding something about a man.

The two of them looked at each other behind Selene's back, the same though obvious on their faces.

_She loves him_.

* * *

Their attention was drawn back to the fight by a sharp _crack!_, and they turned around to see Michael standing over the lycan's fallen wolf form, its head twisted at an impossible angle. Panting slightly, he turned to face them, revealing a more pronounced ribcage than a normal human's, along with jet-black eyes and pronounced, dog-like canine teeth, although his muscles didn't look any larger than they'd been when he was human.

Noting their surprised expressions, he smiled slightly and, in less time than it took to blink, he was back in his human form.

"Yeah, I know I look a bit odd like that, but it's the only way I can access my full strength," he explained, as the four of them headed back into the house and Michael grabbed his leather coat, rolling the shirt up and stuffing it into a pocket inside the coat; the coat concealed enough of his chest to not make it obvious he wasn't wearing anything on his upper half under the coat, and he seemed to have ripped a few buttons when he went into battle. Harry was guessing he'd torn the shirt off as he dived into battle. "As I am, I could probably hold my own against a couple of vampires, but it's only in my hybrid form that I fully tap into my strength."

"Ah," Harry said, before looking over at Selene. "I assume those… lycans were after you because of that problem you want our help with?"

"Correct," Selene said, nodding as she looked back at Harry. "So, now that you've seen what we're dealing with, do you still want to help us?"

Harry looked over at Ginny, and sighed.

"Ginny," he began to say, "I'm sorry, but-"

Ginny clapped a hand over his mouth.

"_Don't _say it, Mr Potter, OK?" she said, smiling slightly at her boyfriend. "You did this to me in sixth year; you're not doing it again, OK?"

She reached over, picked up her wand, and held it under Harry's face. "I'm just as capable as you are right now; I'm coming, and that's that. Got me?"

Harry seemed about to reply, but then a thought occurred to him and he glanced over at Selene.

"The more the merrier, or do you think we'll need to try some stealth attacks on this trip?" he asked the vampiress.

Selene shrugged. "I don't know, but an extra fighter can't hurt," she said, giving Ginny a brief wink of approval before looking back at Harry. "You'd better call the rest of the League; I'll fill you all in on the situation when they're all here."

"Right," Harry said. Heading over to the phone, he picked it up and dialled the number he and Ginny had recently inserted on their speed dial.

"_Yes_?" a voice said on the other end.

"Elektra?" Harry said in surprise.

"_Harry_?" the woman on the other end said.

"What are you doing answering the phones?"

"_Well, Angel's secretary had a date with some guy called Xander, so I got talked into covering for her_," Elektra explained. "_It's a bit calmer than my main job; trust me, it is _not _easy to fight women with superhuman strength, even if you've got daggers_."

"Right…" Harry said, glancing over at the others before turning back to the phone. "Elektra, could you get Angel to call the Doctor and have him pick up the others? Ginny and I've been contacted by some people who need our assistance."

"_Really_?" Elektra asked, trying to sound nonchalant but her voice betraying a certain degree of excitement. "_League-scale crisis_?"

"Yep," Harry replied, nodding.

"_Well, the Doctor already left on business, but he left Angel with a means of contacting him; we'll be with you in a few moments_," Elektra assured him. "_Just one question; does the 'help' involve high stakes_?"

"The fate of an entire species, apparently," Harry replied.

There was a brief pause, and then Elektra spoke.

"_Sounds like fun_," she said simply.

Then she hung up.

Harry put the phone down and walked back to the others, confident that, at any moment, the Doctor's strange old Police Box would arrive to collect them…

And then the game would begin.


	4. Reaction to Regeneration

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the League _or _any of the characters of 'Underworld'; just the plot.

Feedback: Who doesn't want that?

AN: To clarify, the Doctor portrayed here is the Fifth Doctor, currently travelling with Turlough, between the TV stories 'Resurrection of the Daleks' and 'Planet of Fire'

**Sean Malloy-1: **Here you are; sorry about the delay

**mimifoxlove:** Ask and ye shall receive, mimi.

LXG 2004 2: Lazarus

"So, Harry's got visitors who need our help, and he wants us to call the Doctor and have him pick them up?" Gwen asked, looking at Elektra as she sat opposite the former thief. "That's the general gist of it?"

Elektra nodded at the thief, and then glanced over at Angel, who was staring idly at the box in front of him. It was about the size and shape of an old cash register, with an antenna sticking out of the top, and had been given to the League by the Doctor shortly before his departure a few days ago; he'd claimed he had an appointment he needed to keep, although none of them could figure out why he'd _need _to leave for an appointment if he possessed a time machine…

"You going to call him, or do you want one of us to do the job?" she asked the ex-vampire inquiringly.

"Hmm?" Angel asked, looking up at Elektra's voice, and then shrugging as he looked back at the box. "No, no, I'll do it, I was just wondering if we should wait for Fiona and Eilidh to get back in."

"Eh, they won't mind; we'll tell them when they get back," Gwen said, shrugging. "Look, you know those two; they may have the occasional complaint, but they really do enjoy being able to _use _their powers to help people. I guess it's only natural they'd want to get out and about when we don't have any League-related activities."

"Right then," Angel said, as he reached over and pulled the box slightly closer to him.

"Doctor?" he said to it, already sounding slightly foolish. "Sorry to bother you so soon, but we've got a bit of a problem already, and we need your-"

The wheezing, groaning sound of the TARDIS materialising filled the room.

"-help," Angel finished, before turning to look at the TARDIS as it solidified in the air before them. The door opened…

And two complete strangers stepped out.

* * *

One of them was dressed in what seemed to be a school uniform, with red hair and a slightly sour expression on his face, but it more seemed to be there from habit, as though he'd spent most of his life miserable and still wasn't entirely sure how to be happy. 

The other man, however, was a different kettle of fish. He seemed only a few years older than the boy, but there was an edge of experience in his eyes that suggested he was far older than his appearance. He was wearing red-and-white pinstripe trousers, an Edwardian cricket jumper, and a beige frock coat with red lining and a stick of celery pinned to the lapel. He had straight sandy-coloured hair, and was looking at the three League members as though they were all old friends.

"Ah, Angel," he said, smiling at the vampire before glancing over at the two women. "Gwen, Elektra; good to see you two again, by the way. This," he said, indicating the other man, "is my friend and current companion Turlough-"

"And you are?" Gwen asked, as she looked at the man critically.

"Oh, forgive me; I'm the Doctor," the man said, smiling at her and holding out his hand.

Gwen stared at the hand as though it was an offensive weapon, and then looked back at the man offering it.

"If you're really the Doctor, what the hell _happened_ to you?" she asked him, after a moment's deliberation. "You go in for radical plastic surgery or something?"

"Oh, nothing so mundane; I had to regenerate," the 'Doctor' said, smiling at Gwen.

"Regener-what?" Elektra said in confusion.

"He changes his body whenever he's mortally injured and can't survive any other way," the other man- Turlough, Angel recalled his name was- put in. "Trust me; I wasn't with him when it happened, but I met three more of him a while back, followed by a brief run-in with a future model when we were under attack by an indestructible robot." He looked around at the three people in the room, and then raised an inquiring eyebrow. "And while we're at it, who are you three?"

* * *

"Old colleagues of mine in my last life, Turlough," the Doctor explained to his companion with a slightly smile; he may have disagreed with their methods at times, but he'd still found the other League members to be good friends and pleasant company in his last incarnation. "They, like me, were members of a group called 'The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen', a team of remarkable individuals dedicated to protecting the world from unorthodox threats and perils." 

"Such as…?" Turlough asked, waving a hand inquiringly.

"Well, we tackled an immortal trying to create an army on our first mission, but that's strictly small fry compared to what we could run into, really," the Doctor smiled, before turning back to Angel. "Simply put, Angel, what will convince you that I am the Doctor, and not an impostor?"

"Well… you could tell us what you said to Terry before he died, for a start," Angel asked, raising an eyebrow.

"Ah, the tricky one…" the Doctor said, tapping his finger on his chin as he thought. Then he looked back at Angel, smiling brightly. "Wasn't it 'I would never think of you as young, Mr Nator'?" he asked. "That might not be word-perfect, but it _has _been a good few decades since that adventure for me."

Angel nodded thoughtfully, but then Elektra interrupted.

"You taught me a couple of fighting tricks while you were with us," she added. "Who, according to you, was the person who taught you them originally?"

"Well," the Doctor began, "the sword tricks were from one of Cleopatra's bodyguards, the unarmed combat was learned on Venus, and the-"

"You're real," Elektra said, sighing slightly as she looked over at Angel. "Trust me, the Doctor has picked up quite a few tricks for a man who doesn't like violence."

She looked back at the Doctor curiously. "What happened to you, anyway?"

The Doctor shrugged dismissively. "I had to save the universe from an old adversary of mine," he said, trying to sound casual. "It went well enough- I stopped him blackmailing creation by threatening to end existence- but I ended up falling off a radio tower in the process, and sustained severe injuries.

"Anyway," he continued, looking over at Angel inquiringly, "now that we've got that out of the way, what seems to be the trouble?"

"Oh, yeah… that," Angel said; in all the confusion over the change in the Doctor, he'd forgotten why the Time Lord was here in the first place. "Harry's received some visitors who need our help, and we need you to head along and pick them up- and maybe see about contacting James and Clark while you're at it; we'll probably be needing all the help we can get for this one."

The Doctor nodded. "Right-o," he said, smiling at the former vampire as he turned around and headed back into the TARDIS. "Wait here, Turlough," he added, looking over at his companion just as he shut the door. "I shan't be long!" he called out through the door, just before the TARDIS dematerialised, leaving Turlough and the three League members in various degrees of confusion.

* * *

Eventually, Turlough broke the silence. 

"So, what 'talents' do you three have?" he asked, raising a curious eyebrow as he looked at them. "I mean, I can guess that the Doctor was your technology expert, but what did you three bring to the… 'League', wasn't it?"

Elektra shrugged. "For me, it's simple enough; I'm an expert martial artist," she said, indicating the sai daggers on her belt. "Gwen's a professional thief who can control electricity, and Angel used to be a vampire before a spell was cast to restore his humanity."

"Partly," Angel put in from where he was still sitting at the head of the table. "I still possess most of the perks of being a vampire- enhanced strength and so on- but I don't need to drink blood or anything like that."

"Ah," Turlough said, nodding briefly.

* * *

Gwen looked at him in surprise. 

"'Ah'?" she said, a slightly incredulous tone in her voice. "That's all you have to say? 'Ah'?"

Turlough shrugged. "It's nothing against anyone here, but when you've met the embodiment of all that is evil in the universe, dined in a time-travelling restaurant, confronted lizard-like beings that ruled Earth before humanity even evolved, and fought monsters on the moon with the aid of Victorian spacemen, the word 'impossible' tends to not really mean very much to you," he said, by way of explanation.

* * *

(AN: The adventures Turlough mentions here are 'Enlightment', 'The Crystal Bucephalaus', 'Warriors of the Deep', and 'Imperial Moon'; summaries of all these can be found on the website 'www dot drwhoguide dot com slash who dot htm' if you're interested)

* * *

Then he looked over at Angel. "Who else do you have on the team?" 

"A spy, a wizard- that's who the Doctor's gone to collect-, an invisible woman, a superhuman alien, and a telepath," Angel said. "Harry- the wizard- and I have a couple of our friends down as reserve members, but otherwise that's it for the League."

Turlough seemed about to say something, but then the TARDIS began to rematerialize in its original position.

Elektra blinked in surprise.

"Well… that was fast," she said, as the TARDIS solidified.

"Hey, it's a _time _machine, remember?" Gwen asked, smiling over at her friend. "It shouldn't be a surprise that it can get here so fast, when you take _that _little detail into account!"

* * *

As the TARDIS solidified in the air, Angel couldn't help but smile slightly. As soon as Fiona and Eilidh were back, they could find out exactly who had contacted Harry, why they'd done it, and what the situation was that the League could help them with. 

And then, in the words of Tom Sawyer…

_"The League is set… and the game is on"_.

Angel only hoped that _this _mission _didn't _end in the death of another League member; losing Terry had been more than enough for all of them, as far as he was concerned.


	5. An Old Ally, a New Mystery

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the League _or _any of the characters of 'Underworld'; just the plot. Neither do I own Katie; she's based on a friend of mine who requested a role in one of my stories

Feedback: Who doesn't want that?

**Sean Malloy-1:** Sorry, but since Terry wasn't one of the originally recruited League members, he won't be replaced; mourned, yes, but not replaced

LXG 2004 2: Lazarus

The leather-clad form of a tall, slender, athletic brunette walked through the corridors leading to the main room in this labyrinth of corridors below the manor of Ordgahz, her fingers itching over the nine millimetre Beretta she'd acquired from the room of her infamous predecessor in this house's gang of Death Dealers.

Katie may have disagreed with Selene's tastes in men- getting involved with a _lycan_, for the Elders' sake!- but she had to admit that the vampiress _had_ possessed good taste in weapons.

And clothes, when she'd been bothered to shop rather then wage the war that had consumed her every waking moment ever since she became a vampire…

_And she threw this whole life away for a _dog? Katie thought to herself again, as she began to descend down the stairs that led to the chamber of the Elders. _Why?_

She shook that thought off; it wasn't doing her any good, and it wasn't her business to speculate about _why _her adversaries did what they did. Right now, she had some news to report to Marcus, the sole surviving Elder, regarding the locations of the renegades.

She could only hope he was in a good mood today; lately, Marcus had been proving constantly more unpredictable…

She finally reached the main chamber. Nodding at the Death Dealer who acted as security to the chamber, Katie turned and waited for the door to open, and then walked into the room, looking up at the throne with the ever-present slight tinge of apprehension.

Marcus sat in his throne, as always dressed in the gold-trimmed red robes and dark red trousers that were his favoured apparel, silver daggers dangling from his waist. He was a tall man with a lined face and dark hair, nearly hanging down to his shoulders. His chest, although not muscular, was visibly well developed, and he would have given off an impression of great strength even if he'd been a mortal.

* * *

AN: Picture Marcus as looking like William Dafoe with longer hair than normal- and, of course, the hair is black

* * *

"Yes?" he said, raising an eyebrow at Katie. "What do you want?"

"M-my lord," Katie said, bowing slightly in respect for the ancient vampire before looking back at him, "our spies report sightings of both Kraven and Selene in England."

"Together?" Marcus inquired.

"No, my lord," Katie said, shaking her head. "Kraven was sighted in a casino in London, playing blackjack against a man we identified as a British secret service agent known as James Bond. Selene and her lycan pet, however, were seen going into a house in Edinburgh. Our records show that the house belongs to a young man called Harry Potter, who lives there with his lover, Ginerva Weasley."

"Have we captured either of them yet?" Marcus asked, raising an eyebrow.

Katie swallowed; this was the bit she really hadn't been looking forward to. Kraven evaded capture could be excused- after all, he _had _been involved in organising the Coven's operations for some centuries, so it was only to be expected that he'd manage to evade them.

But Selene's escape- if 'escape' was the correct term; they _still _didn't know what had happened there…

Katie had to admit, it was rather embarrassing.

"Sadly, no, my lord," she said, trying to look him in the eyes as she spoke. "Kraven evaded our patrols in the street, and Selene… Well, when our troops entered the house to take them prisoner…"

She swallowed. "It was empty."

Marcus merely nodded thoughtfully, and then looked back at Katie with a raised eyebrow, a manner he often assumed when he was about to ask a question.

"This Harry Potter… would his middle name be 'James', perchance?" Marcus asked.

Katie nodded; they'd found that information when they'd hacked into the computer records of the real estate people in that area, to determine who Selene had sought shelter with.

"How did you know that?" she asked Marcus, curiosity overriding her natural fear.

"His name recently cropped up in regards to some… old business I like to keep in touch with," Marcus said, smiling slightly, as though at some fond memory, before his manner became professional again. "Mr Potter is a member of a unique organisation supervised by a joint British/American group of politicians and secret service operatives, who call themselves 'the Coalition'. Kraven's encounter with James Bond is an intriguing coincidence; Bond himself is the field leader of the group that includes Mr Potter among its members."

"This 'group' is?" Katie asked inquiringly.

"They call themselves the League of Extraordinary Gentlemen these days," Marcus said, as he looked back at Katie. "They consist of anyone with certain… unusual powers, shall we say… who, more often than not, take an active interest in protecting others with their abilities. The current group includes a spy, two aliens, a martial artist, a thief with the power to control electricity, a scientist who can turn invisible, a powerful psychic, a wizard- the erstwhile Mr Potter- and, of course, a very _unique _member of the Soulless."

Katie blinked in surprise. She'd heard of the Soulless class of vampire, of course- they were part of the reason vampires _still _had a bad name in the world- but… one of them _working _with _humans_?

"How does that happen?" she asked Marcus. "Why does the Soulless not simply kill the humans at the first chance?"

"Because he fails to live up to his name and actually has a soul," Marcus replied, smiling slightly at Katie's surprise. "Yes, I know it's unexpected, but take into account, the Soulless are not like us; they are still the demon that many mortals believe us to be as a whole. Us?"

He looked at his hand, flexed his fingers, and smiled slightly. "For all our… extras, we are, essentially, enhanced human beings; nothing supernatural about us. Even the vampire virus can be scientifically analysed and altered…"

"You mean like with the hybrid?" Katie asked. She knew little of the circumstances that had created the abomination that accompanied Selene like a bodyguard, but had gathered from sources around the mansion that it had been something about the mortal's blood that allowed him to merge both vampire and lycan DNA without the two destroying each other.

"Essentially, yes," Marcus said, nodding briefly at Katie before pointing back at the door. "Now, go, and see if you can find any trace of Selene; if she has contacted the League, we may be in serious trouble."

Katie raised an eyebrow at that. It wasn't that Marcus was _arrogant_, but still… to be so nervous about a gathering of mortals, no matter how skilled…

"But… why?" she asked, looking at Marcus curiously. "Surely the League are merely mortals; how can they pose a threat to us?"

Marcus seemed about to dismiss her query, but then changed his mind and just shrugged slightly.

"I may as well get it out in the open," he said, looking back at Katie. "The League was originally created in 1196. Of course, then it was known as 'the Fellowship of Extraordinary Men', but I digress. Anyway…"

He sighed slightly, and looked at a small ring he wore on the pinkie finger of his left hand. Many vampires had noticed this ring, reflecting that it seemed a trivial artefact for a vampire of Marcus's stature. Normally, the heirlooms of Elders were larger things, such as Viktor's sword or Amelia's necklace, but this ring was a small thing. It was made of gold, with a blood-red ruby in the centre, held in the ring with two thin bands of crossed gold that, if examined closely, almost seemed to resemble arrows.

Marcus looked back up at Katie. "I was a member of the Fellowship."

Katie's eyes widened.

"You… you were?" she asked, unable to contain her surprised. She'd always thought that vampires- her class, at least; she wasn't sure about the Soulless or the Dracula class- stayed out of human affairs as a rule…

And yet Marcus had fought with humans?

"Yes, I know it was unexpected, but they _did _offer to see about giving us more protection from angry mortals if I gave the Fellowship my strength," the Elder said, smiling at her incredulous stare. "But…"

He shrugged, a sad little smile on his face, showing that the memories, although good in their way, were painful for him as well. "Well, what can I say? The Fellowship grew on me, and I grew rather fond of them; I even attended the funerals of the other four members."

Katie nodded regretfully at that comment. Vampires generally avoided forming emotional attachments with humans; the shortness of their lives always left the vampires feeling depressed after their loss.

To even have attended their funerals…

It showed that Marcus had cherished a sizable amount of respect and affection for all the members of the Fellowship.

"I… I'm sorry," she said, bowing her head in respect.

Marcus nodded. "Thank you," he said simply.

Then he sat back in his throne and smiled slightly at her. "That is the reason I have such a respect for the League; I was a member of the very first incarnation of the team. If the new League are even half as powerful as the Fellowship were, then we are in trouble."

Then he turned away and pointed at the door to his chamber. "Now, go," he said, snarling slightly; evidently, despite his casual attitude, the questions were starting to frustrate him.

Katie nodded and left the chamber, her mind spinning from the information she had learned.

A team of remarkable individuals, with a legacy going all the way back to the twelfth century… one of the Soulless working with other beings on a long-term basis… wizards and aliens allied with psychics and martial artists…

Katie shook her head; she couldn't spend her time thinking about all those pointless details. She had to get the Death Eaters organised.

Still, it _had _been a fascinating history lesson…

* * *

"So, basically, you're asking us to help you win a war?" Elektra asked, as she stared at Selene and Michael with a raised eyebrow. "Isn't that a bit extensive?"

"No, we're not asking you to help us _win_ the war," Selene said. "We want you to help us _end _it by taking down the man who's preventing it from ending."

"Who is?" the Doctor asked, smiling over at Selene as he spoke. Bond shook his head in bemused wonder at the sight; he still couldn't get used to the idea that this young, fair-haired man was the Doctor he'd met only a month ago…

And now, in all probability, he would never see again.

Bond shook his head and turned back to look at Selene and Michael; right now, they had other business to attend to.

"The subject is a rather unusual individual; a hybrid who calls himself 'Lazarus'," Michael explained, as he looked around the table. "We don't know where he came from, but he seems to have been manipulating the war behind the scenes ever since Selene killed Viktor; he seems determined to keep the war going on until at least one species- vampire or lycan- is totally annihilated, and he seems to have little concern about which one it is."

"Um… you _sure_ he's a hybrid?" Ginny put in, raising her hand.

Bond still wasn't quite sure about the idea of including a new member in their group, even if it was only a _reserve_ member. He knew that Harry wouldn't have allowed her into the League if he thought she couldn't handle it, and knew that the League probably needed all the help they could get if they were going to win this fight. Still… the League had already developed a comfortable group dynamic on their last mission; did they really need a new member that would change the dynamic even more?

Then his eyes fell on the Doctor, and the spy realised that the group dynamic would have changed anyway. Even with the brief time he'd spent in the company of this new incarnation, he'd quickly gathered that the Doctor's personality had changed just as drastically, if not more so, than his physical appearance.

If they were going to adapt to one new face (Even if it _was _technically an old face), they might as well learn to work with another new one.

"Yeah, we're sure," Michael said, nodding over in Ginny's direction. "We came close to taking him down a few times, but we've only ever been able to do a small bit of damage to him before he's managed to escape. But he's a hybrid, all right; nothing else looks like that."

"Right then," Fiona said, standing up and looking around at the other League members. "Shall we get to the _Nautilus_ and get moving?"

"Indeed," the Doctor said, as he stood up and looked over at his friend. "Come on, Turlough; time and tide wait for no man, even a Time Lord."

He looked over at Angel. "You will get the TARDIS moved to the _Nautilus_, won't you?"

"On that topic, any reason we couldn't use the TARDIS to get about?" Ginny asked, indicating the Police Box. "I mean, it _is _faster than the _Nautilus_, from what I've heard of it…"

"But less accurate; I'm notoriously erratic on short hops," the Doctor said, shrugging. "Besides, we can't just dive in there without a plan; the _Nautilus _may take longer, but it gives us more of a chance to think things through."

Ginny nodded. "Good point," she said, before turning to look at her lover. "Shall we, Mr Potter?" she asked, offering him her arm.

"Of course, Miss Weasley," Harry replied, taking the offered arm as the two of them walked out of the conference room, closely followed by the other League members.


	6. A Match Made in Blood

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the League _or _any of the characters of 'Underworld'; just the plot. Neither do I own Katie; she's based on a friend of mine who requested a role in one of my stories

Feedback: Who doesn't want that?

LXG 2004 2: Lazarus

"This is your transport?" Michael asked, as he looked up at the massive form of the _Nautilus _before them. "It's a bit… um…"

"Old-fashioned?" Bond finished for the hybrid, looking over at his new friend from the driver's seat with a small smile on his face. "Yes, I know, but it keeps up an old tradition. The original League used this very ship to travel back when they were active, and while it may not be the fastest means of travel, it's tried and tested as a base as well as transportation."

After their conference had finished, they'd headed down to Angel's garage and taken three of his limos; the current limo held Bond, Michael, Selene, and the Doctor, with Harry, Ginny, Gwen and Turlough in the second and Angel, Eilidh, Clark, Fiona and Elektra in the third. Bond had sent a message to Captain Tyne to bring the _Nautilus _up as soon as they'd left Wolfram & Hart, and he was relieved to see that the ship was already waiting to accept passengers

"A sensible step to take, in my opinion," Selene said, as she nodded in approval at the _Nautilus _before looking over at Bond again. "After all, aeroplanes are fast, but they are limited in the areas that they can land and in the amount of baggage that they can carry from place to place. With submarines, on the other hand, more often than not all you need is a relatively stable part of the coastline, and you can take it from there."

She looked over curiously at the Doctor. "I assume that there are land-based means of transportation inside the _Nautilus _itself?"

"Of course," the Doctor said, nodding at the female vampire. "Some of our more efficient transports were specially designed by me; the League-Mobile- our team's prime means of getting around- was designed with the primary intention of . Ah, here we are now."

As the doctor finished speaking, the limo headed up a ramp leading into the _Nautilus_ and entered the hold, followed by the other two. Although everything was secure, he still waited until the hold door was shut before opening his door. The limo's tinted windows had apparently protected Selene from the sun during their drive, but Bond wasn't exactly sure whether the windows had actually done so or whether Selene's type of vampire was immune to sunlight.

_Still_, he mused to himself, as the League got out of their various cars and began to head off to their respective quarters, _I'm sure we'll learn for sure either way in time_.

After all, as much as Selene and Michael wanted to end the bloodshed that was taking place in their world right now, Bond knew that it would be practically impossible to stop a war without _someone _getting killed...

And, when that time came, no matter how much everyone would want to find an alternative, they would need to know the weaknesses of their opponents- both vampire _and _lycan.

* * *

The next morning, the sun was overcast by a mass of clouds, allowing Selene to walk around on the conning tower with freedom. Michael, Fiona and Angel had joined her just to make sure that the sun didn't take her by surprise, and Harry and Ginny were playing chess on the other side of the observation deck, as well as waiting on standby to cast a Shielding Charm to help protect Selene. True, neither of them were entirely certain whether the charm would deflect something as basic as _sunlight_, but it might be enough to help protect Selene from the worst of the ultraviolet radiation.

Looking out ahead of the ship, at the vast ocean that lay before them, Selene smiled slightly, attracting an inquiringly look from Angel.

"Something up?" he asked, but she just shrugged.

"No, not really," she said, shaking her head. "I was just thinking… how peaceful it is up here. I never really had the time for this sort of thing when I was fighting in the war; my entire life was taken up with killing lycans, and I generally disdained all non-war-related activities."

"Must've annoyed Kraven, huh?" Michael added, smiling over at the beautiful vampiress. Selene, however, didn't respond to his query other than to turn up the left corner of her mouth in a half-smile. It was almost as though she wasn't sure how to react…

Then again, Angel could sympathise with that; after all, it had taken him approximately four years to really learn how to relate to people in the modern world after Whistler had convinced him to get out of his 'rut' and start making a difference.

Maybe that was part of the reason why Selene was denying her feelings for Michael.

After all, it was evident to _everyone_ in the League that their two new friends 'had the hots' for each other, as Gunn might have put it, and yet they were evidently not even _kissing _on a regular basis, never mind going the whole way…

"So," Angel asked, looking over at Selene inquiringly, "if you don't mind me asking, how did you become a vampire anyway?"

Selene looked over briefly at Harry, who shook his head; she hadn't mentioned any details about her own family history when she was talking to the League as a whole, and Harry and Ginny hadn't thought it right to fill in the blanks that she'd left in her story. If she wanted to tell the rest of the League, she'd do it in her own time; they wouldn't break her trust.

Reaching over, Michael squeezed Selene reassuringly on the shoulder.

"I could tell him if you don't want to," he said, looking at Selene with a slightly melancholy expression.

"No," Selene said, shaking her head as she looked back at the hybrid with a brief smile before turning back to Angel. "It took place almost two centuries ago, in the 1820s. I was living with my parents, sister and nieces in our farm- my brother-in-law was away attending to business- when…"

She sighed. "When we were attacked."

"Ah," Angel said, nodding as he listened to the story. It reminded him in some ways of many of his sirings back when he'd been Angelus; attacks on large houses, with the occasional turning of anyone who showed a certain spirit. Some vampires disliked the idea of giving someone the power of immortality after the person in question had tried to kill them but Angelus had always enjoyed the irony of turning the victims into the very thing that they had hated when they were alive. "What was it?"

"Lycans," Selene replied. "Or so I was told at the time by Viktor."

"Oh yeah; the Elder who started the war, right?" Angel said, looking at Selene for confirmation. When Selene nodded, Angel continued speaking. "So, since you said that you were only _told _lycans had attacked, who was it really?"

"Viktor," Selene replied, as she stared out at the sea before her, apparently unwilling to look at anyone else as she spoke. "He claimed that he had driven away the lycans after they killed my family, and… and that he would give me the strength to avenge them."

"But… but _why_?" Fiona asked, looking at Selene in confusion. "Why kill your family in the first place?"

"He had a secret craving for fresh human blood, even though it was banned by every single rule of the Coven," Selene explained. Angel briefly joined her in studying the landscape; he may lack most of his vampire-specific traits these days, but Selene's words still evoked memories of some of the crimes he'd committed as Angelus…

And, no matter how much he wished otherwise, not all of his memories of the murders he'd committed as Angelus were classified to him as 'bad' memories.

The intoxicating smell of human fear as he held the terrified humans close to him… the sweet nectar of blood washing down his throat as his fangs pierced the soft flesh of the neck…

As much as he hated even to _think _of doing such a thing again, he couldn't deny that the taste of human blood had always left him drooling at the mouth; pig's blood just couldn't compare, no matter how hard he tried to cope with it.

He shook his head; Selene was talking again.

"He destroyed my family like they were animals, but, when he saw me, he was reminded so much of Sonja… the daughter that _he _killed to 'preserve the purity of the species'… that he couldn't bring himself to do it…"

"And he turned you instead, huh?" Fiona asked, leaning over and giving Selene an apologetic squeeze on the shoulder; Angel nearly reached up to do the same, but Michael beat him to it.

Looking at the hybrid standing there, looking at Selene with a look of such poignant longing on his face, Angel was reminded of the expression he'd often had on his face when he was looking at Buffy… back in the early days when she'd just assumed that he was a human who'd known a lot about the world of the supernatural, rather than a member of that world himself…

Selene suddenly stood back from the railed, shrugged her shoulders slightly to make Fiona and Michael release their grips, and then turned around and walked back into the _Nautilus_.

As Michael looked after Selene with a brief tinge of regret in his eyes, Angel and Fiona glanced over at each other, Angel raising an enquiring eyebrow as Fiona rolled her eyes. The two of them may not have known each other that well, but they knew enough about each other to guess that the same thought was crossing each other's minds right now.

"Uh… Michael?" Angel said, glancing briefly at his watch and then looking over at the hybrid. "Aren't you due in the training room for a practise fight with Clark?"

"Huh?" Michael asked, shaking his head briefly and glancing down at his own watch. "Oh… yeah, right… thanks," he said briefly, as he turned around and began to walk back down into the corridor.

Harry and Ginny walked around to look at the other League members, their game evidently having been abandoned for the moment, and smiled slightly at the part-vampire and invisible woman.

"Relationship issues, huh?" Harry said, looking back at the tower in the direction that Michael had just walked.

"Issues?" Ginny asked, looking over at her lover critically. "Harry, they need more of a wake-up call than _you_ did!"

Harry groaned. "Ginny, how often do I have to tell you, all I lacked was _nerve_," he said, 'glaring' at the beautiful redhead with an exasperated look on his face. "I just needed something to make it obvious that you'd 'moved on', and-"

Fiona held up a hand to stop the young wizard. "As fascinating as your history is, Harry, we can't afford to discuss it now; we've got the immediate issue of Michael and Selene to tackle."

She glanced around at the other three League members standing on the tower with her. "Any ideas?"

"They need a wake-up call," Angel said, jerking a thumb at the door that the couple in question had just walked through earlier. "Normally I'd recommend sticking them in a room until they sort things out, but with their strength they could probably punch the door down in a few moments, so that couldn't work."

He looked over at Fiona and Ginny inquiringly. "Think one of you two could have a little talk to Selene about things?"

"Selene?" Ginny asked, looking at Angel in confusion. "Why not Michael?"

"Oh, Michael knows what he's feeling-" Angel began.

"He just doesn't have the nerve to express it, right?" Harry added.

Angel nodded as he patted the wizard on the back, sending Harry staggering slightly forward; the former Scourge of Europe's enhanced strength could be a problem at moments like that.

"Precisely," he said, before looking back at the two women. "Selene, on the other hand… she doesn't seem to _know_ what she's feeling at the moment."

"Can you blame her?" Ginny put in. "After all, her family died all in one go, and she's been dedicated to the objective of practically committing genocide for nearly two centuries? She's not exactly 'grown up' in an effective environment for emotional development, when you think about it."

"True…" Fiona said, nodding thoughtfully, before she turned around and clasped her hands. "Well, I'll get down to business."

"You?" Ginny asked, looking at her new colleague curiously. "Why not me?"

"Well, in all fairness, from what I've heard about you, I've had a bit more experience of living on my own- or, at least, living with a single cause in mind," Fiona pointed out. "After all, I've spent the past decade or so either trying to figure out a way to make people invisible, or try and find some way of coping with my powers now that I can't get rid of them. I'd probably find it easier to relate to her than you would, don't you think?"

Ginny nodded thoughtfully.

"Good point," she said to the invisible woman.

"So, when do we start?" Harry asked.

Angel shrugged. "Now's as good a time as any," he said, looking over at Fiona. "You track down Selene and try to get a few minutes alone with her; Harry, Ginny and I will make sure that Michael's kept busy until you're done."

* * *

Harry smiled slightly as the four of them turned around to re-enter the submarine that was rapidly becoming their home away from home.

They may be heading towards a dangerous showdown with the fate of at least one species on the line…

But, right now, all they had to worry about was playing matchmaker.

And somehow, Harry was looking forward to it.


	7. The Love of the Vampire

Disclaimer: I don't own any of the League _or _any of the characters of 'Underworld'; just the plot. Neither do I own Katie; she's based on a friend of mine who requested a role in one of my stories

Feedback: Who doesn't want that?

LXG 2004 2: Lazarus

As he sat in the filthy rooms that had become his only refuge from the world that had hunted and persecuted him simply for seeking his rightful place, Kraven tried once again to work out how things had gone so drastically wrong in such a short amount of time.

_By the Elders_! he cursed, as he stared listlessly up at the ceiling. _All I _wanted _was what was mine by right; is that too much to _ask?

After all, who had he actually _hurt _in his attempt to gain power? The Elders? A triad of vampires too set in the old ways to really _adapt _to the new world that the vampires faced around them on a daily basis? The lycans? They were nothing but savage beasts; he was doing the world a _favour _by removing some of them from the equation!

And now there was this whole _mess _with Marcus and Singe on his plate! Honestly, a _single_ vampire Elder left alive- not even the one who'd _started _this whole mess in the first place- and they were _still _trying to kill each other! At this rate they'd be lucky if _either _side was left alive; from what little intelligence Kraven had been able to acquire on the war effort, Marcus had dispatched several vampire forces on practically suicide missions into the heart of lycan territory, and Singe had made numerous similar errors in judgement.

Quite frankly, from what he'd been able to gather, at present the lycans were proportionately ahead of the game, most likely due to their own greater physical strength when it came down to a one-on-one battle.

"_Enough_!" Kraven roared, as he stood up sharply in his room, throwing the table that made up one of the few pieces of furniture in the room off to one side.

He'd _had _it with this whole experience; if nothing else, that card game earlier, where he actually _lost _to a _mortal_ of all things, was the straw that broke the back of the proverbial camel.

He would _not _sit around idly and let Marcus make an ass of himself when a far better option for leadership- namely, himself- was available. No longer would he be forced to muddle through life, relying on the 'good will' of those inferior to him to get anywhere…

No, from here on in, once he was finished with them, it would be _Kraven _who ruled the vampires.

All he had to do was get back to Ordgahz, scout out the situation with Marcus- maybe see if that ditzy servant girl, Erica, was still hanging around the place- and then…

He chuckled.

Give him a few days to come up with a plan of attack, and he couldn't _fail _to stop Marcus and claim leadership of the Coven for himself…

* * *

Glancing through what had to be something like the seventieth door she'd opened in her search, Fiona smiled with relief as she finally found herself looking at Selene; she'd been searching for the vampire ever since she and her little group of matchmakers had decided on their next move.

Fiona had already exhausted most of the immediate possibilities for where Selene might have gone- some of the more likely candidates had included the engine room and the main hold, rooms that lacked windows that even _might _be exposed to the sun- and had nearly given up hope before she remembered the various panels that could cover the windows if they wanted, and had decided to just check the cabin they'd allocated Selene. Sure enough the vampiress had been there, sitting in her chair and studying her Beretta pistols.

"Yes?" Selene said as Fiona knocked politely to attract attention, turning her head to look at the scientist inquiringly as she leaned in through the half-open door. "What do you want, Miss Brand; have we arrived already?"

"No, we've still got a couple of days until we reach Europe; I just thought it might be good for us to talk about… this and that," Fiona said, shrugging as she walked into the room and sat down on Selene's bed as she looked at the vampire critically. "Specifically, to talk to you about some of the… little _personal _details, shall we say… concerning you and how you feel about a certain Michael Corvin."

Selene looked up sharply at that comment, but then appeared to regain her composure as she turned back to gaze out of the porthole- or at least gaze _at _the porthole, given that it was still closed.

"If you must know, there's nothing to discuss," she said simply. "Michael and I are friends and nothing more; our _working _relationship is strictly based on the fact that nobody else can stop this nightmare before one or both of our two species are destroyed."

"'One or both of _our two _species'?" Fiona said, staring at Selene in surprise. "I thought Michael was a _hybrid_ now; why are you acting as though he's still a… what was it you called the werewolf side in this war of yours again?"

"They're called lycans," Selene replied, glancing critically over at the invisible woman for forgetting that piece of information. "And I act like that because he _was_ originally one of them; he was a lycan before I passed over the vampire strain of the virus that transformed him, even if the transformation had yet to fully assert itself. He may be a hybrid now, but I generally find it easier to think of him as a lycan. I find that it helps remind me that we both have a personal stake in _both_ sides of this conflict, rather than just trying to make things better for one of us at the cost of the other side."

"Really?" Fiona asked, as she sat down on the room's bed to look at Selene. "And you're sure there isn't _another _reason for that little differentiation?"

Selene turned to glare at the invisible woman, a harsh expression on her face.

"What other reason would there be?" she asked, raising a critical eyebrow, her eyes briefly flashing a pale blue colour.

"Oh, I don't know… maybe a part of you's trying to deny something that you don't particularly want to accept by making Michael and you a bit _too _different?" Fiona asked, raising an inquiring eyebrow as she sat down on the bed beside Selene.

"What would I not want to accept?" Selene retorted, turning away from the scientist to stare back at the wall in front of them; evidently, she wasn't interested in discussing this matter in particularly great detail.

"A few possibilities spring to mind, really; for example, your… more-than-friendly feelings, shall we say… for a certain hybrid/medical intern?" Fiona asked, a small smile on her face as Selene turned to look incredulously at the League's stealth expert.

"_What_?" she asked, staring critically at the young woman. "I _have _no… _feelings_… for Michael in _that _way; he is a friend-"

"And you gave up _everything_ you ever knew just to make sure he'd be all right, when you could have just let him manage on his own and gone home?" Fiona asked, staring at Selene. "Selene, you don't do something _that _drastic for someone who's only a _friend_, you know. Just because you don't know _what _you're feeling doesn't mean you should just deny it; that _isn't _going to help anybody."

Selene didn't bother to reply; she just turned to look out the window once again, leaving Fiona staring at the back of her head.

"If you want my opinion, if this is how you're handling the situation- acting like there _isn't _one in the first place- this isn'tthe right approach to take to sort it out," Fiona said, staring at Selene's raven-black hair as the vampire warrior stared out of the window. "You can't just get away from your feelings by pretending they don't exist."

"There's nothing to deny the existence of," Selene retorted, still staring out the window. "Michael is a friend; that's it."

"Yeah, and _I'm_ the alien in this team of ours; not only am I human, but both Clark _and _the Doctor aren't from this crazy old planet of ours," Fiona retorted, glaring critically at Selene. "Look, you're not fooling anyone here; Harry took _ages _to take the hint that Ginny still liked him that way- the man may be a wizard, but he's still clueless in matters of the heart- and even _he _can see that you're interested in Michael."

"He's wrong," Selene said simply, not even bothering to look at her new associate as she spoke.

"Is that _all _you're going to say to me about this?" Fiona asked, looking critically at the former Death Dealer. "That the entire League are _wrong_ about how you feel about Michael? Selene, I know it's a very cliché line, but 'Denial ain't just a river in Egypt', if you know what I mean?"

"Shut up," Selene said, still refusing to meet the invisible woman in the eye. The thought briefly crossed Fiona's mind that, if Selene had been Clark (Or at least possessed his powers) the porthole she'd been staring at would have been nothing but a hole by now, she was glaring at it so intently.

_Probably hoping I'll give up quicker if I don't seem to be getting a response on _any _level_, Fiona thought to herself. After acquiring her powers, she'd become even more sensitive to others' body language, constantly watching her opponents for any sign that they were aware there was somebody in the room who they couldn't actually _see_. Right now, Selene may have looked as though she couldn't have cared less about Fiona's presence, but Fiona could clearly see that the vampire was getting frustrated by her constant questions, approaching a point where she'd probably react more strongly to further attempts to question her.

It may not have been all that _smart _to provoke a vampire by pushing her too far, but given the partial invulnerability that was part and parcel of Fiona's powers, so long as she could turn invisible fast enough, Fiona felt safe enough in continuing this line of questioning.

"Look, what's the _problem _here, huh?" Fiona asked, looking critically at Selene's back. "It seems pretty straightforward to me; you like Michael, he likes you, all that remains is for you two to admit and get down to the 'good stuff'. I mean, you've been on the run for a while now, from what you're told us; probably been a while since you had a chance to let off some proverbial steam."

There was no reaction from Selene, so Fiona paused for a moment, trying to come up with an alternative argument to make Selene confess how she really felt.

And then a possible explanation for the vampire's reluctance hit her.

Could Selene be afraid that Michael wouldn't… measure up to her expectations?

After all, based on Selene's story, Fiona doubted that the vampire had ever found time to form a long-lasting relationship- she sounded as though her entire life had been devoted to the war against the lycans- but she must have had sex at _some _point, right?

From what little Angel had told them about the daily life of vampires- it was a topic he preferred not to think about, given his past- they were notoriously sexual creatures in most cases- the vampires from what he'd called the 'Kingdom' class of vampires were a notable exception to this rule- so Selene must have had sex a few times in the past, and most likely with vampires with at least a century or two of experience behind them.

Even if she hadn't actually _loved _them, the vampires in question must still have had a pretty good idea of what they were doing when it came to the bedroom…

And here she was, in love for what was possibly the first time in her immortal existence, and it was with a human who wasn't even thirty years old yet.

Maybe the reason she was rejecting Michael was just fear that he wouldn't measure up to what she expected from the man she loved? After all, her past lovers would all have been pretty… experienced… and Michael?

By comparison to the life span and sexual experience possessed by the average vampire, he might as well have been a virgin.

Even if Selene was _genuinely _in love with him, a part of her probably couldn't help but feel slightly disappointed when the time came for them to actually… do it… and he didn't have the experience of her previous lovers.

"Hoo boy…" Fiona said, exhaling slightly as she stared at Selene's back, suddenly uncertain about how to proceed.

After all, how do you start talking to a vampire with over a century's worth of experience behind her about _sex_?

"Uh… look, Selene, in advance, I'm sorry if what I'm about to say seems… impertinent… given that we've only known each other for a couple of days and all…" she said, already wishing that the other League members had given this job to somebody else. "But… if this is about you being afraid that Michael's… performance… won't be up to your expectations… well, does that really matter?"

This, at least, seemed to get a response out of Selene; she turned to look curiously at Fiona, as though confused as to where the invisible woman was going with this.

"What expectations?" she said, staring in confusion at the other woman.

"Um… mostly regarding Michael's abilities when it comes to certain… _bed­_-related activities, shall we say?" Fiona replied, lowering her voice slightly as she lowered her eyes. "I mean, well, I get that he might not be _quite _as good as what you're used to, but

For a moment, there was silence in the cabin, then Selene sighed as she finally turned to fully look at Fiona.

"How can I have any expectations about his abilities when it comes to sex, Miss Brand?" she replied, sounding almost sad as she spoke. "I would have nothing to compare it to."

Fiona's eyes widened in surprise.

Whatever she'd been expecting Selene to say, it certainly hadn't been _that_…

_A _virgin _vampire_? she thought to herself, staring at Selene in surprise. _A body like _that_, and she's_ never _done it? _

_Wow… she _was _focused on winning that war_…

"Uh… right," she said, swallowing slightly as she looked at Selene apologetically. "Sorry I brought it up…"

Still, even as she spoke, Fiona's mind was already going over the possible factors this new information presented regarding the reason for Selene's distance from Michael. Given Selene's age, she must have been turned at a time when women were still meant to be regarded as 'pure', particularly when it came to their… wedding night.

True, things had changed a lot, particularly in the last hundred years or so, but Fiona doubted that it could be particularly easy to let go of the traditions you'd been brought up with, especially since, as Ginny had pointed out earlier, Selene hadn't had much opportunity for emotional development over the years since she'd become a Death Dealer…

Could it be that, on some level, Selene didn't _want _to lose her virginity?

After all, in many ways it was the last remnants of her innocence… all that was left of her humanity from before she was turned… the only thing she retained of the young girl whose family had been so brutally taken from her all those years ago…

Wouldn't it only be _natural _for her to want to keep something like that?

One last memento of the girl who'd 'died' when Viktor had turned her…

"Selene…" Fiona said, reaching out to place a hand on her new… 'friend', she supposed was the best term; anyone working with the League on something like this couldn't just be an ally… shoulder, "is this about your family?"

The vampire looked back at Fiona inquiringly, and Fiona continued. "Well, I mean, is the reason you don't want to… you know… because you want to remember the way you were back then?"

Selene just stared at Fiona for a moment, and then, in a gesture so small that it was barely even visible, she nodded once.

Swallowing slightly to prepare herself, Fiona left her hand on Selene's shoulder as she exerted a slight amount of pressure on the vampire's limb, turning Selene to look directly at her.

"I'm not going to tell you how to live your life, Selene," she said, hoping that her words were registering; Selene's expression at the moment was worryingly blank, as though she wasn't fully paying attention to what was going on around her. "I just want you to ask yourself… would they have wanted this?"

Selene opened her mouth, but Fiona held up a hand to stop her. "I don't mean the vampire thing; I'm prepared to excuse something that… complex… to say the least. What I _mean _is… would they have wanted you to live like this? Emotionally detached, unwilling to get close to anyone because you're worried about forgetting _them_?"

After a moment had passed, during which Selene failed to say anything in response, Fiona sighed and stood up, walking towards the door of the cabin. As she stepped outside, placing her hand on the door handle, she looked back at Selene.

"Think about it," she said to the vampire. "I doubt they'd hate you for finding love once more."

Then she left the vampire to think on what had just been said.


End file.
